Pneumatic sander for car-trucks.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

0. A. PRATTE. PNEUMATIC SANDER FOR GAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.30, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- N0 MODEL.

PATENTBD MAR. 22, 1904.

C. A PRATTB; PNEUMATIC SANDER FOR GAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED OOT..30, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

W/mr a rrnn Srarns Patented March 22, 1904.

PATENT Option.

CHARLES A. PRATTE, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF TlVO-THIRDS TO E.TYLER SMITH AND GEORGE A. GREEN, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

PNEUMATlC SANDER FOR GAR TPiUCl (S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Le ters Patent No. 755,539, dated lflareh22, 1904.

Application filed October 30, 1903. Seria1 No. 179,247. (No model.)

To all ZIJ7'LO77L it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. PRAr'rn, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing in the city and county of Denver and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PneumaticSanders for Oar-Trucks; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled IO in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to a pneumatic sander attachment for car-trucks,and is especially intended for trucks of street-cars. The invention,however, is broad enough to cover a sander on any truck which is pivotedwith reference to the body of the vehicle mounted thereon.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, a sander or device for sandingcar-tracks has not been mounted on the truck, but on the body of thecar, in which event it is evident that in making turns where sand ismost needed on the track it is practically impossible to arrange thesand-discharge in such a way as to accurately direct the sand to thecurved portions of the 3 rails. It is well known that car-trucks arepivoted to the body of the car and that these trucks follow the curvesby virtue of this pivoted relation. Hence by mounting the sanding deviceon the truck the sand may be accurately discharged upon the rails at alltimes, whether on curves or straight portions of the track. Further, byvirtue of the pneumatic feature of the sander it becomes practicable tomount it upon the car-truck, whereas an 4 ordinary sanding device whichis controlled by a lever and valve under the control of the motorman orother person on the car could not be placed upon the car, by reason ofthe movable relation between the truck and the body of the car. Hence itis believed that there is novelty in, mounting a sander of this kindupon a car-truck as distinguished from mounting it upon the body of thecar.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, as well as thefunction it is intended to perform, I will proceed to describe the samein detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in whichis illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of one end of a car, showingone of the trucks equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is an end viewof a truck similarly equipped. Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of theejectors employed in connection with a sand-box.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let A designate the body of the car, and B one of the trucks upon whichthe car is mounted, the truck being pivoted with reference to the bodyof the car in order to make short turns, as is common in this class ofconstructions. Upon the truck-frame B is mounted a sand-box O in anysuitable manner. This box, as shown in the drawings, is mounted on theend of the truck-frame and is provided at its lower extremity with twosand-outlets O, below and connected with which and extendingtransversely of the truck is a pair of ejectors D. The air for operatingthese ejectors is taken from a service-pipe E, mounted on the car andextending upwardly in front of the platform upon which the motormanstands, where it is provided with a valve F, so located as to beconveniently accessible to the motorman or other person in charge of thecar. The air service pipe extends thence downwardly, and the hose-pipe Gleads therefrom to a central coupling part H between the two ejectors,whereby the air delivered to the part H passes to both ejectors. Thenozzles D of each ejector project into an enlargement D, with which thesand-outlet 0 communicates, and therefore delivers a current of airacross or below the bottom opening of the sand-box, whereby the sand isdrawn by suction or by virtue of the partial vacuum created in thechamber D. The sand is drawn from the sand-box and carried to a pipe I,which leads outwardly to the plane of the wheels and with the outerextremity of which is connected a downwardly-inclined pipe J, whoselower extremity is open and located close to the car-track in the planeof-the wheels and j ustin front of their treads. Hence it is evidentthat by virtue of this construction, the hose-pipe G being flexible,that the discharge-pipes J are always in position to deliver the sandupon the track in front of the wheels of the truck, since the hose-pipeG- has suflicient slack to compensate or allow for any movement of thetruck upon its vertical pivot.

When it is desired to deliver sand to the track-rails, it is onlynecessary for the motorman or other person in charge of the car to openthe valve F, when air under suitable pressure will be delivered to theejectors and sand drawn from the two outlets of the box C and dischargedupon both track-rails. Each discharge-pipe J is supported by a suitabledepending bracket K, connected with the truck-frame.

Attention is called to the fact that the modern street-cars are providedwith air-brake equipment. Hence in order to use my construction uponears of this class it is only necessary to tap the air-service pipe, asillustrated. in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The combinationwith a vehicle-truck pivoted with reference to the body of the vehicle,of a sand -receptacle mounted on the truck, an ejector connected inoperative relation with the sand -receptacle, and means mounted on thebody of the car and connected with the ejector for supplying the latterwith air.

2. The combination with a vehicle -truck pivoted with reference to thebody of the vehicle, of a sand-receptacle mounted on the truck, anejector also mounted on the truck and connected in operative relationwith the said receptacle, and means mounted on the body of the car forsupplying the ejector with the necessary fluid for operating purposes.

3. The combination with a vehicle-truck, pivoted with reference to thebody of the vehicle, of a sand-box mounted on the truck, means connectedwith the box for conducting sand therefrom to the rails of the, track,and an ejector mounted on the truck and connected in operative relationwith the sand-box, and means mounted on the car-body for supplying theejector with operating fluid.

L. The combination with a vehicle-truck, the latter being pivoted withreference to the bodv of the vehicle. of a sand-box mounted on thetruck-frame, an air-service pipe mounted on the body of the car,anejector connected in operative relation with thesand-box, and aflexible conduit leading from the airservice pipe to the ejector for thepurpose set forth.

5. The combination with a vehicle-truck, mounted to swing on a verticalaxis with reference to the body of the car, of a sand-box mounted on thetruck, two outlets at the bottom of the sand-box, an ejector connectedin operative relation with each outlet, an airservice pipe mounted onthe body of the car, and a flexible device leading from the air-servicepipe to the ejectors.

6. The combination with a car provided with a truck movable withreference to the body of the car in the usual manner for the purpose ofrounding curves, an air-service pipe mounted on the body of the car andextending upwardly through the platform, a valve connected with theupwardly-extending portion of the air-service pipe, the said valve beingaccessible to the person in charge of the car for controlling thepassage of air, a flexible conduit leading from the air-service pipe, a

sand-box mounted on the truck, two outlets leading downwardly fromopenings in the sand-box, said outlets having enlarged lowerextremities, a pipe extending transversely of the truck, an ejectorconnected with each end of said pipe and projecting into the enlargedsand-box outlets, the flexible air-pipe being connected with the pipebetween the two ejectors, and suitable means for conducting the sandfrom the sand-box enlargements to the traclerails, substantially asdescribed.

7. A sander comprising a sand-receptacle mounted on the truck, and anejector also mounted on the truck and connected in operative relationwith the receptacle, and means mounted on the body of the car forsupplying the necessary fluid for operating purposes.

8. In a pneumatic sander, the combination with a sand-receptacle mountedon a truck pivotally connected with the body of the car, and meansmounted on the car-body and connected with the sand-receptacle forsupplying the necessary air for operating purposes.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. PRATTE.

T/Vitnesses:

DENA NELSON, MARY C. LAMB.

